Fusion

Mochi Balls with Fermented Organic Blueberries from Chile

January 18, 2019 By stemsandforks 2 Comments

This post was sponsored by Fruits From Chile. All thoughts and opinions are my own

If you didn’t get it right with your new year’s resolutions this month, don’t worry. There’s another new year coming up on February 5th 2019 and you can start anew! With the Lunar new year just around the corner, I thought these Mochi Balls filled with lacto fermented organic Chilean Blueberries would be perfect to ring in the new year and provide a second opportunity to become healthier and kinder to one’s body and mind.

Lacto-Fermented Foods:

So we all know how naturally fermented foods provide healthy probiotic bacteria. Stuff that’s good for our gut. Studies have shown that the natural probiotics created from fermentation also increases vitamin content thereby boosting our immunity naturally which helps fend off the flu and cold. (source) Consuming fermented foods are also safer to consume than raw as the lactic acids essentially kill off the bad bacteria such as E-Coli. (Source) And it has been proven time and again that improving gut health aids digestion thereby helping promote healthy body weight. It doesn’t stop here. There are a plethora of reasons lacto fermented foods are good for us.

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Matcha and Black Sesame Crêpes

November 2, 2017 By stemsandforks Leave a Comment

My mother in law would probably pucker her lips till they turned white and wrinkled much like her backside exit if I ever told her what I did to the base of her crêpe recipe. I asianized it.

For the old school Belgian or Frenchie, crêpes are a kind of sacred dish. My mother in law has never deviated from the simple recipe of just flour, eggs, milk, sugar. She normally serves it with some cassonade (brown sugar), nutella or some jam on the table. I remember once serving crêpes for lunch with sour cream, bacon and chives…and yup the puckered backside lips appeared. “Quelle horreur” she exclaimed. Awww…. Always love her candour! She skipped the bacon and cheese and went straight to the cupboards to grab the brown sugar. She refused to even try! Old school and I forgot to mention, stubborn.

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Kimchi & Pancetta Galettes with Spinach, Kale and Chèvre

October 26, 2017 By stemsandforks Leave a Comment

Kimchi, pancetta, kale, spinach and chèvre in a crusty, flaky buttery pastry topped with an egg – who can resist such a plethora of flavours? This delightful dance of sweet/savoury, rich/acidic, chewy/flaky and hearty galette is my interpretation of Omurice. I was inspired by this childhood favourite comfort dish originally from Japan. Omurice is essentially fried rice crowned with a paper thin omelette, with ketchup slathered atop. Koreans have adapted it by adding kimchi (of course), along with a mish-mash of proteins, seafood or veggies in the rice. Omurice can really be made of anything. So long as it’s fried rice blanketed by an omelette. Its name is a quintessential example of Gairaigo which basically means a transvocalization. ‘Omu’ for omelette, and ‘raisu’ for rice.

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Cardamom Cake with Matcha and White Chocolate Icing

March 24, 2017 By stemsandforks 4 Comments

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Korean Pear Galette

January 12, 2017 By stemsandforks 2 Comments

With in-laws living in Waterloo, Belgium we usually spend a couple weeks in the summer to visit so my husband Pierre can get his fix of Belgian cuisine whilst the in-laws enjoy their grandkids. Pierre has now been living in Toronto for 12 years and gets home-sick every now and then. Well, its mainly the food he misses. As do I. Once there, he easily eats the tomate aux crevettes grises (small, grey, flavour-packed shrimps prepared in a hollowed tomato), or Américain préparé (Belgian version of steak tartare) daily for lunch. Then of course there’s Belgian street food – frites with so many different sauces (Samurai and Américaine sauce are our faves), Mitraillette (a baguette with meat or sausage, topped with, grated carrots, lettuce and French fries smothered with Andalouse sauce) and my daughter’s favourite, Belgian waffles.

For those of you who haven’t been to Belgium, its one of those countries where the majority of the restaurants and street foods are consistently excellent. There are way more hits than misses. After personally experiencing the food and culture, its easy to understand why a Belgian expat would become home sick. I often find myself craving certain restaurants or dishes from Belgium. Not to mention even basic groceries such as their high fat butter and fresh eggs with sunset hued yolks.

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